Santa Barbara County is receiving more doses of COVID-19 vaccines thanks to the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program, a national program that increases vaccine supplies at select health centers.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department will be administering COVID-19 vaccinations in a clinic that travels to a new city each week, starting at the Dick DeWees Community & Senior Center in Lompoc Sunday.
Appointments for the Lompoc clinic open at 9 a.m. today, and eligible community members can register online through Public Health or by calling 211.
The clinics will start by administering first-dose Pfizer vaccines.
“With more people now eligible to be vaccinated, and more vaccines available, we are even closer to ending the pandemic in our community,” Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, county public health director, said in a statement. “With the risk of severe illness and death for people over the age of 65 as well as people with high risk medical conditions, we are happy to be able to vaccinate community members in these groups. We welcome all eligible community members to be vaccinated, and in particular offer a warm welcome to our mid-county residents looking to be vaccinated.”
Public Health delivered 3,376 vaccinations last week and plans to administer 9,450 doses next week with the vaccination clinics in Lompoc.
As vigorous COVID-19 testing continues, the county’s test positivity rate is down to 2.2% — well under the orange tier’s 5% target.
Officials reported 38 COVID-19 cases Wednesday, increasing the county’s total to 32,933 cases of which 176 cases are still infectious.
The daily case count from Wednesday is up 12% from its two-week average.
Public Health also recorded one death Wednesday that COVID-19 caused or significantly contributed to.
The deceased was at least 70 years of age and lived in Goleta.
Santa Maria confirmed 12 daily COVID-19 cases. Its new total is 11,111, and 50 cases are active in Santa Maria.
Santa Barbara detected nine cases, which brings its total to 6,169 cases. Officials deem 31 cases still infectious.
Lompoc counted seven cases. It has a total of 3,479 cases of which 36 are active.
The following areas also confirmed daily cases: the South County area containing Montecito, Summerland and the city of Carpinteria, two cases (1,327 total, nine active); Isla Vista, two cases (1,261 total, four active); Goleta, one case (1,719 total, nine active); the Santa Ynez Valley, one case (980 total, seven active); Orcutt, one case (1,733 total, seven active).
The geographic locations of three of Wednesday’s cases are pending.
A total of 42 patients with COVID-19 are being treated in Santa Barbara County hospitals, 12 of which are in critical care.
The county had 49.4% of its staffed ICU beds available Wednesday.
email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
